Tralee murder trial: Armed gardaí turned up at Cork halting site within hours of cemetery incident

ARMED gardaí turned up at the halting site on the Carrigrohane ‘Straight’ Road within hours of reports of a violent incident at a cemetery in Tralee, it emerged today at the murder trial related to the killing of 43-year-old Tom Dooley.

The 15-person jury – including three substitute members –are now in the third week of evidence in the trial of five men and a teenager who all deny the murder of the father of seven at a funeral in Tralee in October 2022.

Several garda witnesses were called by prosecution senior counsel Dean Kelly to describe what they saw at locations including the halting site on the Straight Road early that afternoon.

Assistance

Detective Garda Bryan Murphy responded to a call for garda assistance at the halting site and arrived to find colleagues dealing with the driver and passengers of a Silver Toyota Hiace that had entered the site. 

“I saw a number of men sitting in the rear of the van being removed by members of the armed support unit.

“Garda Dave O’Sullivan searched Thomas Dooley snr (one of the accused in the trial) and he (Garda O’Sullivan) handed me a Stanley blade. I arrested Thomas Dooley snr.

“(Asked about the Stanley knife) he said, ‘I need that item for looking after animals. Sometimes when they’re tied with long rope they get caught… I need that for my horses.’ (Asked what he was doing earlier in the day) he said, ‘I was out looking at my horses,” Det Garda Murphy said.

Det Garda Alan Johnson also arrived at the halting site at around 1.30pm that day and arranged to have the Toyota Hiace seized as part of the investigation.

Injured

Earlier today, the jury heard from Dr Rosemarie Kelleher who is a general practitioner for the deceased man’s widow, Siobhán Dooley, who was injured in the incident at the centre of the murder trial.

“She had a considerable wound from her upper right back to her right armpit. (Five days after sustaining the injury) she was in considerable pain. I had to increase the strength of her painkillers. She was finding it difficult to move her right arm… She is on pain control medication to this day.

“Obviously, there have been considerable psychological effects on her and we have been caring for her in that regard.

“It is my opinion that her injuries are akin to serious harm (in terms of the definition under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act). She will have that scar for life. She will have to be very careful of that scar in the sun,” Dr Kelleher said.

Cross-examined by defence senior counsel Tom Creed on this issue, he put it to her that earlier in the trial another doctor classified the injury as harm, rather than serious harm. 

Dr Kelleher said that in light of the disfigurement and other considerations, her opinion was that the injury constituted serious harm.

Of the six defendants in the trial, only 21-year-old Thomas Dooley jnr faces the charge that he intentionally or recklessly caused serious harm to Siobhán Dooley, the wife of the deceased man. He has pleaded not guilty plea in respect of this count. All six of the accused pleaded not guilty to the charge of murdering 43-year-old Tom Dooley from Hazelwood Drive, Killarney, at New Rath Cemetery, Rathass, Tralee, on October 5, 2022.

Five defendants in the case – all with the surname Dooley – Patrick, 36, from Arbutus Grove, Killarney; Thomas, 43, from the halting site, Carrigrohane Road; Thomas jnr, 21, from the halting site, Carrigrohane, Cork; Michael, 29, of the halting site, Carrigrohane, Cork, and Daniel, 42, of An Carraigin, Connolly Park, Tralee, County Kerry, are on trial, as is the sixth defendant who is a teenager.